10 Things All Superhero Games Can Learn From Batman: Arkham

2. It€™s Not All About The Action

A staple of the character, Batman isn€™t known as the €˜World€™s Greatest Detective€™ for nothing. Whilst never fully realised until WB Montreal€™s criminally-underrated Arkham Origins, Detective Mode has proven to be one of the defining elements of the Arkham saga. Used in both a combative and crime-solving manner, the success of this mode has spawned countless rip-offs and imitations, but the mystery solving element is still strangely absent from these many copies. Whilst crime-solving isn€™t unique to the pointy-eared sleuth, a €˜Detective Mode€™ wouldn€™t be appropriate for all potential superhero adaptations. However, what detective mode does raise is an emphasis on a break from the action €“ a moment to reflect and move to a more slower-paced style of gameplay. Quite often many triple-A titles tend to whip the player from one gigantic action set-piece to the other, without thought to give a breather in the proceedings. Not only do the Arkham Games demonstrate the ability to wind things down momentarily, but they also happen to have some of the most cinematic cut-scenes to have been featured in a title during the last generation of consoles. It is quite clear that slowing the pace down holds mutual benefits for both gameplay and narrative itself.
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.